Autonomous vehicles in development use a wide variety of electronic equipment to sense or detect objects in the area around the vehicle to control the speed and direction of the autonomous vehicle. Some systems are more effective if they are not located inside the body of the vehicle but are instead assembled to the roof of the vehicle. The electronic equipment that benefit from an elevated and unobstructed mounting location on the roof of the vehicle may include lidar systems, radar systems, proximity sensors and cameras.
Vehicle roof structures are designed to resist penetration into the passenger compartment in the event of a collision that causes the vehicle to roll over. Vehicles are tested in a test known as Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 216 for roof crush resistance. In FMVSS 216(c) vehicle roofs are tested by applying a load to the roof rail area of the vehicle. The displacement of the roof is measured on each of the driver's side and passenger's side. There must be less than five inches of platen travel and there must be no contact with a head form disposed inside the vehicle. This test is representative of the strength and durability of a vehicle roof in a roll over condition.
Attaching an enclosure for electronic devices used by autonomous vehicles adversely affects FMVSS 216 tests because the roof crush loading plate pushes the enclosure against the roof and causes the enclosure to penetrate the passenger compartment roof into the occupant space. In some designs the roof headliner may be caused to make contact with the head form that is prohibited by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regulations.
Adding additional roof support bows to strengthen the roof to support an enclosure for autonomous vehicle electronic devices adversely affects the goal of reducing vehicle weight to improve fuel economy.
This disclosure is directed to solving the above problems relating to providing a removable roof rack on a vehicle having a roof formed by a plurality of rigid removable roof panels as summarized below.